CALL FOR APPLICATIONS SPR SLOBODA AND BUKOSKI CUP

Call for Applications for the Seventh Annual Society for Prevention Research Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup

Significant advances in prevention science are often due to a team of individuals working closely together across many years. In recognition of the importance of the collaborative process to the field, the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) will sponsor a friendly competition amongst teams of researchers for the honor of bringing home the traveling Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup for the 2012-2013 academic year. The Cup is named for two of the founders and long time active members of SPR, Dr. Zili Sloboda and Dr. William Bukoski. The Cup competition is an opportunity for an unique experience: several independent teams of scientists, each working with the same data set, problem solve together for a brief period of time and then jointly present their ideas to each other and a larger group of experienced prevention scientists.

Competition

SPR Cup teams will receive a data set via email two months prior to the annual meeting, which will take place on May 29 through June 1, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Washington in downtown Washington, D.C. During the months preceding the meeting, each team will conduct a literature review, generate hypotheses, conduct analyses, and prepare a presentation for a 10-minute symposium talk on their results. Teams will present their results during an invited symposium at the SPR annual meeting. A panel of senior prevention scientist judges and the audience at the symposium will rate the quality of the research work and of the presentation. Back by popular demand, this year’s Master of Ceremonies will again be SPR Board Member Dr. Guillermo “Willy” Prado. The highest scoring team will be recognized and awarded the 2012 SPR Cup during the SPR Awards Ceremony.

Teams

Teams are limited to five members. Each team should include participants with knowledge and practical experience in research methodology, data analysis, and conference presentation. Eligible team members are individuals who are either (1) currently enrolled in a masters or doctoral training program, or (2) have received their terminal graduate degree within the last 5 years and have not yet been a principal investigator on a research grant from a federal agency or private foundation.

Data Set

A public data set relevant to prevention science will be used. In past competitions, data sets have been relevant to a wide variety of topics of interest to prevention science. For example, the dataset for the competition last year was the Second Injury Control and Risk Survey (ICARIS-2). Collection of this dataset was sponsored by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Mentors

Teams are invited to engage mentors of interest to guide them in their work. If teams so desire, an experienced SPR Cup prevention science mentor also will be assigned to advise a team and will be available for consultation via phone or email on an as needed basis. All mentors must be acknowledged during the presentation.

Criteria

Presentations will be judged on six criteria — Innovation of Project, Depth and Usefulness of Statistical Analyses, Ability to Draw Meaningful Conclusions from the Data, Significance of the Project to Prevention Science, Quality of Verbal Presentation, Quality of Visual Presentation – as well as on Overall Impression.

Publication

All participating teams will be encouraged to refine their analyses after the meeting and to generate publishable products. The highest scoring team may be invited to submit a manuscript to be considered for publication in SPR’s flagship journal Prevention Science.

Application Process

To apply, send an email to jmarke@uw.edu with the subject line “2012 SPR Cup Submission”. Within the email, for each team member, please include the name, highest academic degree, current position, primary institutional affiliation, a brief summary of research skills and expertise, and contact information. Please list a team name and designate a team captain. A receipt of submission will be sent to the team captain. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Pacific time on January 20, 2012. Accepted teams will be informed by email on or before January 27, 2012. A maximum of six teams will be accepted this year. Teams will be accepted in the order of receipt of applications from fully eligible teams (i.e., all team members qualify to participate).